WILD BERRIES - A poem by Alice Eloise Stor'i

Here is a poem written by my mother in 2001 for me in celebration of my birthday.  The image behind the poem was drawn by my sister, Karla, also in celebration of my birthday.  

Karen and I were living in Southern California at the time.  My mother was living in Oregon.  In trying to understand the meaning of the poem, my Aunt Lora Lee said "It means your mother misses you.  A lot."

I post this poem today in honor of my mother on her birthday, December 20th.  She would be 88 today if she were alive.  

Happy Birthday Mom.

How It Feels - A Poem by Alice Stori

HOW IT FEELS

Twisted.  A sweater wrung
  in a towel to dry.  Gnarled.
A tree trunk where leprechauns
  might hide a pot of gold.  Contorted
  around its center like a Chinese acrobat.
Convoluted, wound up, bent: my tongue
  when speaking from my heart.

Alice Stori

Circa, late 1990s

aka Alice E. Storaasli

b. December 20, 1935 - d. January 7, 2004

***

This poem was written by my mother, Alice Storaasli, during the late 1990s.  She won a contest for it, and banner-sized versions of it were displayed for a month in city buses around Portland, Oregon.

If you knew my mother, you would recognize just how much this poem explains and describes her way of showing emotion.

Happy Birthday Mom - Wish you were here to celebrate it.